posted 06-20-2007 08:07 PM
I was wondering if anyone had seen a Lion Brothers version of the Apollo 11 patch with a blue background for space instead of black? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

dtempleMember

Posts: 628From: Longview, Texas, USARegistered: Apr 2000

posted 06-21-2007 07:55 PM
To my knowledge there were only three, four-inch versions made by this company. One with a dark blue background, one with a dark blue background and orange outer border, and the other with a black background. Evidently, there is a fourth version with a bright blue background.

Mike ZNew Member

Posts: From: Registered:

posted 06-24-2007 01:20 PM
I have a Lion Brothers Apollo 11 patch that a lady (from Lion Brothers) gave me right before the launch of Apollo 11 with a blue outer border. She told me that I should take special care of that one.

She also gave me the yellow outer border patch. As have mentioned before, she gave me each Apollo mission patch as they launched. We lived about 10 minutes from Lion Brothers which is in Owings Mills, Maryland. We lived in Randallstown, MD.

The outer blue border is a dark royal blue and the inner boarder is the common sky blue.

dtempleMember

Posts: 628From: Longview, Texas, USARegistered: Apr 2000

posted 06-24-2007 11:33 PM
That makes five versions of the Lion Bros. Apollo 11 patch. With all the new variants being discovered how could anyone ever be certain their Lion Bros. patch collection is ever complete?!

With the updated info on Apollo 11 patches included, here is what I can only assume is the total number of variants of Apollo, Skylab, and ASTP patches made by Lion Bros.

Apollo 1 - 1

Apollo 7 - 2 (though I have seen a gray background version labeled as an error type which could be argued to be a third)

Apollo 8 - 1

Apollo 9 - 1

Apollo 10 - 1

Apollo 11 - 5

Apollo 12 - 2

Apollo 13 through ASTP - 1

Is this correct? Was an Apollo program patch made by Lion Bros.?

dmash4077Member

Posts: 64From: Prattville AlRegistered: May 2006

posted 06-26-2007 08:51 PM
What Apollo 11 versions are you talking about now: the black background, dark blue, light blue, and orange border? Ah, and the blue border as mentioned above, there may be more.

Ron Goode found a wheat colored Skylab patch, and Eli Iskow said that some Apollo patches made the same way, may have slipped out?

Now we have added a bright blue background patch and a blue border patch to the list bringing the total Apollo 11 Lion Bros. to five variants.

Perhaps the blue border one and the bright blue background patches were not released as production items but were instead prototypes that slipped out the door.

dmash4077Member

Posts: 64From: Prattville AlRegistered: May 2006

posted 06-27-2007 07:02 PM
I also have another to add to the list, I have two orange border Apollo 11 patches, one has light blue tail feathers, and the talons, beak and eye are gold. On the other, it has gray tail feathers, and an orange talons, beak and eye.

dtempleMember

Posts: 628From: Longview, Texas, USARegistered: Apr 2000

posted 06-27-2007 08:44 PM
Okay, that makes at least six variations of the Lion Bros. Apollo 11 patches assuming the blue border and bright blue background patches were produced in quantity rather than as prototypes.

I have the gray feather version of the orange border patch.

By the way, there was (at least) four three-inch Lion Bros. Apollo 11 patches - three with slogans and one without. The slogans were "Bird Watcher," "Mission Support," and "Recovery Fleet." I think the "Bird Watcher" patch is relatively common but the other three seem to be a little less so.

dmash4077Member

Posts: 64From: Prattville AlRegistered: May 2006

posted 06-27-2007 09:05 PM
Yes, there is a total of 5 of those. I have all of them. The patch that goes with them is 3 1/2 inches, and looks like the 4" version. Here is a scan of mine:

spaced outMember

Posts: 2779From: Paris, FranceRegistered: Aug 2003

posted 06-28-2007 02:13 AM
Regarding Dan's orange border variant above, the patch is effectively a regular Apollo 11 patch with an orange border, whereas the orange border version that apparently went into limited production is the second one he shows with orange beak and claws, and no blue on the lunar surface.

I still believe that only two version of the patch were produced in any numbers.

I have hesitated to add the other one-offs to the LBSpacePatches site but if someone could send me 100dpi scans against a white background of some of these variants I can maybe add them on a special page.

spaced outMember

Posts: 2779From: Paris, FranceRegistered: Aug 2003

posted 07-02-2007 01:44 PM
I've added the 'orange border but normal inside' variant to the LBSpacePatches site. I've also added Dan's bright blue background version, using the best image I could make from an eBay listing.

If I get an image of the blue border patch I will add that too.

andrewcliMember

Posts: 328From: La Jolla, CA, USARegistered: Jul 2007

posted 07-05-2007 12:15 AM
Regarding other variants of the Lion Bros. patches in the later missions, I happen to have an Apollo 16 patch that I purchased when I was at the National Air and Space Museum back in 1972-75. It has an orange boarder and the eagle's beak, talons and the leading edges of its wings are orange.

At first I thought the "yellow" patches faded over the years, but in seeing the Apollo 11 orange variant, I believe that this is also hold true for the Apollo 16's patch.

Here is a side by side comparison of mine on the left with the one I recently purchased.

spaced outMember

Posts: 2779From: Paris, FranceRegistered: Aug 2003

posted 07-05-2007 03:25 AM
Maybe it's just my old eyes deceiving me but the one on the left looks more like the usual color (orange-yellow) to me. The one on the right looks distinctly more yellow than usual in this image.

Am I the only one to see it this way?

andrewcliMember

Posts: 328From: La Jolla, CA, USARegistered: Jul 2007

posted 07-05-2007 03:36 AM
You know, I have another Apollo 16 patch that looks like the one on the right. To me, I think that the left one is the variant. Does anybody else have an opinion?

kosmoMember

Posts: 286From: Registered: Sep 2001

posted 01-15-2011 02:55 PM
I just picked this up, it appears to me to be a Lions Brothers patch variation with a solid blue border. Any thoughts?

Editor's note: Threads merged.

spaced outMember

Posts: 2779From: Paris, FranceRegistered: Aug 2003

posted 01-15-2011 04:24 PM
It's an unfinished patch. The yellow merrowed outer border that partly overlaps the blue inner border (which is fully exposed here) hasn't been added. This would have been a factory reject.